With the growing numbers of computer users connecting to the “Internet,” many companies are seeking the substantial commercial opportunities presented by such a large user base. For example, one technology which exists allows a television (“TV”) signal to trigger a computer response in which the consumer will be guided to a personalized web page. The source of the triggering signal may be a TV, video tape recorder, or radio. For example, if a viewer is watching a TV program in which an advertiser offers viewer voting, the advertiser may transmit a unique signal within the television signal which controls a program known as a “browser” on the viewer's computer to automatically display the advertiser's web page. The viewer then simply makes a selection which is then transmitted back to the advertiser.
In order to provide the viewer with the capability of responding to a wide variety of companies using this technology, a database of company information and Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) codes is necessarily maintained in the viewer's computer, requiring continuous updates. URLs are short strings of data that identify resources on the Internet: documents, images, downloadable files, services, electronic mailboxes, and other resources. URLs make resources available under a variety of naming schemes and access methods such as HTTP, FTP, and Internet mail, addressable in the same simple way. URLs reduce the tedium of “login to this server, then issue this magic command . . . ” down to a single click. The Internet uses URLs to specify the location of files on other servers. A URL includes the type of resource being accessed (e.g., Web, gopher, FTP), the address of the server, and the location of the file. The URL can point to any file on any networked computer. Current technology requires the viewer to perform periodic updates to obtain the most current URL database. This aspect of the current technology is cumbersome since the update process requires downloading information to the viewer's computer. Moreover, the likelihood for error in performing the update, and the necessity of redoing the update in the event of a later computer crash, further complicates the process. Additionally, current technologies are limited in the number of companies which may be stored in the database. This is a significant limitation since world-wide access presented by the Internet and the increasing number of companies connecting to perform on-line E-commerce necessitates a large database.
Furthermore, the existing methods of navigation introduce a confusion factor to the average user by requiring a formalized structure of addressing in order to access a destination server. Current methods of navigating on the Internet require that the user enter the URL address which points to the desired location of the destination server on the network. The URL address has a format which must be adhered to in order for the user to connect to the desired destination server. The URL address must assume the form of either an IP (Internet Protocol) address, which is four sets of 8-bit numbers separated by periods, the 8-bit numbers represented in decimal form, or the URL address must be in the form of a domain name. The domain name is a more intuitive representation of the IP address in that it can use words or abbreviations of words which have more meaning to the user. However, the domain name format also has rules which must be adhered to when using such a domain name to navigate the Internet. For example, the domain name must use an ampersand symbol (@) to separate a personalized prefix from domain name suffix. Furthermore, in order to successfully access the desired destination server, the user is required to know the top level domain, and sub-domains of the domain name. The complexity of navigating the Internet can be significantly reduced by moving away from the current addressing schema, and providing a more generalized addressing mechanism where the user is only required to enter a character string to access the same destination server.